Bengals' next piece of their linebacker puzzle could be the heart and soul of the reigning College Football Playoff champions

As we near the end of our search for under-the-radar draft prospects the Cincinnati Bengals should be interested in leading up to the NFL Scouting Combine, we reach the position their new defensive coordinator previously coached in Cincinnati.

Before Al Golden spent three years as Notre Dame's DC, he helped elevate the Bengals' linebacker room to an impressive level of competency during the team's Super Bowl run in 2021.

The work he started in 2020 paid off greatly the following season as Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt played some of their best football while reserves Akeem Davis-Gaither, Joe Bachie, and Clay Johnston also made varying contributions during the campaign.

Wilson has seen minor regression those days, Pratt's regression has been worse and is likely out the door before the end of next month , and ADG and Bachie are impending free agents.

Golden is back in a more prominent role, but the task of figuring out this group has popped back up on his desk.

Cincinnati's inherent trust in Golden maximizing linebackers may lead the team to putting off the position until late in the 2025 NFL Draft.

That's when a player many Bengals fans know intimately will be waiting to hear his phone ring.

Ohio State LB Cody Simon can help spark a resurgence for Bengals linebacker play A former four-star recruit from Golden's home state of New Jersey, Simon put his 10,000 hours in and then some for the Buckeyes.

He first emerged as the starting middle linebacker in 2021 and played much better in a reserve role in 2022.

A similar year followed in 2023 in which he posted the eighth-highest tackle grade among Big Ten backers according to Pro Football Focus.

Simon graduated at the end of the 2023 season with 42 career games logged and came back for one more run at a title.

Before the season began, he was honored with team captain status and became the fifth OSU player to earn the "Block O" jersey number; an honor exclusively bestowed to those who demonstrate, as A to Z Sports' Brandon Little wrote in August , "toughness, accountability, and the highest of character." Simon is the second non-Ohioan to earn the jersey, and it's no surprise as to why if you asked OSU linebacker coach and former Buckeye star James Laurinitis.

"He's the unquestioned leader of the group," Laurinitis said last year .

"He's the leader of the defense." Simon made the most of the honor by putting together the best season of his OSU career in 2024, recording career-highs such as 112 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, and seven passes defensed.

He topped it all off with an impressive showing against Golden's Fighting Irish in the Bucks' College Football Playoff National Championship victory.

A post shared by Yahoo Sports (@yahoosports) Very few players in this draft class played more football, particularly meaningful football, than Simon did over the past five years.

But older prospects like him don't normally go off the board in the early rounds.

The A to Z Sports Mock Draft Database has him at No.

158 in this class, putting him in the range of a Day 3 selection.

Numbers to know for Cody Simon Simon's late end to the season due to winning the CFP played a hand in preventing him from competing in college all-star games, so we don't have any verified measurements for him yet.

We'll get those next week at the Combine.

OSU listed him at 6'2" and 235 pounds.

Average depth of tackle of 3.2 yards in run defense in 2024: Simon graded out as one of the best Big Ten linebackers in run defense (90.8) and had the sixth-lowest average depth of tackle in the conference to prove it.

Missed tackles were a problem in the years he played the most, but he executed run fits at a high level to cap off his career.

Cody Simon film spark notes Cody Simon (#0) Ohio State 62 235 pound Linebacker PFF Grades: Coverage = 72.7, Pass Rush = 80.6, Tackling = 73.4, and Run Defense = 90.8 2024 Stats: 112 tackles, 7 sacks, and 1 forced fumble pic.twitter.com/aD6zze4pba The first thing that pops out to me is how light on his feet Simon operates.

He's comfortable in space and has the quick-twitch mobility to break on receivers and execute assignments off the edge and toward the flats.

He's not the biggest player, but he's usually in position early which works as a nice counter.

A good chunk of his pressures last year also turned into sacks, so he knows how to finish at the quarterback as well.

Golden will likely be allowed at least one swing in the draft to get his next linebacker to develop.

Simon comes packaged with immense character, production, and is fresh off winning at the highest level while in a position of leadership.

There are far worse ways the Bengals can use their final picks in April.

Before the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, we'll go over one sleeper player at each position of need for the Bengals.

Read up on Kansas OT Logan Brown , Oregon NT Jamaree Caldwell , Texas Tech TE Jalin Conyers , Boise State DE Ahmed Hassanein , Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter , Cincinnati G Luke Kandra , Kansas State CB Jacob Parrish , and check back to A to Z Sports Cincinnati this week for the latest installments.

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